How Sure Are You That You Are Married Under The Act?

In the previous article, I wrote about the three types of marriage in Nigeria and spoke particularly about Statutory marriage, also known as Marriage under the Act (mistakenly called Court Marriage by Nigerians).

The many benefits for the couples under Statutory marriages make up for the reasons why most people choose to conduct that marriage.

However, over the years I have come to realize that so many people mistake “Church Marriage” for the popularly called “Court Marriage”

SCENARIO A

Now, most people go to church on special Saturdays to join one or two Christian couples to celebrate their wedding ceremony, usually called “Holy Solemnization”. In that service, the couple is handed a certificate (the church’s certificate) by the officiating priest, and the couple is declared man and wife.

Years later, when asked to present their marriage certificate, they present the document that was given to them by the priest, only to find out that the said document is not “Form E” (the actual marriage certificate issued by the Marriage Registry). Then the running around to get the actual one issued by the Registry.

Basically, this is why a lot of Christian couples are now currently in the habit of going to the marriage registry and conducting their marriage under the Act and obtaining their Form E from the registrar of Marriage and then running to their church to conduct their “Church Wedding” where the bride wears her all-white gown and veils her face with the groom all suited up, so the priest in charge of the church can bless them and issues them the church’s wedding certificate.  

While the first scenario happens to a lot of couples, some couples are usually lucky, as their church issues them the “Form E”. How?

The Federal Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs may give licence to any place of worship (usually a church) to conduct statutory marriages and issue the “Form E” to the said couples. The marriage must be celebrated/conducted in accordance with the Marriage Act. The licenced church is given books of marriage certificates by the Registry.  On the day of the ceremony, the officiating priest shall fill the marriage certificate with the particulars of the couple, just as required by Form E.  After the couple, the witness and the priest have signed, the priest would give a copy of the certificate to the couple, and within seven days after the celebration of the marriage, the priest shall send the duplicate certificate to the registrar of marriages for the area where the marriage took place (i.e where the church is situated)

Note: that the priest and the church must comply with laws regarding Marriage under the Act, that is, both parties must not be at the time of this marriage be married to other people save themselves, and the marriage must be celebrated in the presence of at least two witnesses, etc.

SCENARIO B

A couple conducts their marriage in church, and they are issued a certificate. Years later when asked by an appropriate authority, they are informed that the certificate given to them is the actual certificate issued by the registry too. This is because the church where they conducted their marriage is a place of worship that has been licenced to conduct statutory marriages. Lucky them.

This clearly shows that a “Church Marriage” is totally different from the “Statutory Marriage or Marriage under the Act”

All denominations have doctrines and beliefs that they hold sacred, and these include marriage rites and activities they carry out during the celebration of marriages. Although these marriages are also monogamous just like the Marriage under the Act, they cannot be classified as such.

For a marriage celebrated in a church to be classified as a marriage under the Act, the above must be carried out by the church, that is, it must be licenced by the Minister to conduct marriages, and it must comply with the requirement of the Marriage Act, it must be able to issue Form E to the couple, and send a duplicate copy to the registry after seven days of the marriage. Anything else will be regarded as mere “Church Marriage”, which can also be seen as “church blessing” or “Blessing of the union”. This adds nothing nor does it have legal implications for marriage. Note: I used the word “Legal”.

In fact, over the years, the courts have held that there are just three types of Marriages in Nigeria, namely: Statutory Marriage, Customary Marriage and Islamic Marriage. No provision is made for “Church Marriage”. The court at one time went further to say that marriage in church is either a marriage under the Act (Statutory marriage – if the church is so licenced) or it is nothing. In cases like these, it is either party are married statutorily or under Native Law and Customs (Customary Marriage) or they are not married at all. This was the decision in Obiekwe v. Obiekwe.  This simply means, that a “Church Marriage” is not a recognized marriage in Nigeria.

So, churches are usually advised to advise their members on the importance of complying with the law.

It is simple. Most Nigerians are under the Native Law and Customs (Customary Marriage), at least most Christians are. This is a valid marriage.

Now, if you really want to be married under the Act (Statutory Marriage), to me you have two options:

1. Just walk into the Marriage Registry closest to you and conduct your marriage after you have met all the requirements.
2. Find out from your Church if they are licenced by the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to conduct the marriage. If they say yes, there is absolutely no need to go to the Registry at all. That would be a waste of time and money. You might even end up getting the same certificate twice from two different bodies with two different bodies. If however they say no, please by all means go back to option 1. After your marriage at the Registry, you can come and conduct a “Church Marriage” if you so desire.

So now, are you married under the Act or not?